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Friday, 31 December 2010

Wednesday, 29 December 2010

Yay hay, Graham B is back with another top tip to make your winter biking a bit safer and more enjoyable. You might remember Graham has a couple of books out about Improving Classic Motorcycles, and oddly, that's the title of one of them. Another in the GBC library is Magnetic Speedometer Repair, a most useful title if you need to dismantle, tweak and attempt to reassemble a speedo or anything else that goes round and round. Perhaps I should have read it before I took Cubbie's old speedo apart, chuckle. You can pop along to www.lulu.com/product/paperback/improving-classic-motorcycles/12932659 to buy yourself that extra little Christmas pressie. Take it away Graham B....

VISOR MISTING AND HOW TO AVOID ITHopefully you’ve all equipped yourselves with a Vee Wipe to keep the outside of your visor clear in rain. But what about the inside of the visor and the constant battle with it misting up from your breath?

I’ve been riding year round for just short of 33 years now and have tried pretty much everything to stop misting up. My case is particularly tough because I wear contact lenses which require a well fitting visor that doesn’t let the wind in. When wearing contact lenses (well the hard type I use anyway) the slightest spec of dust that gets in your eye causes an “I’ve just been chopping up the strongest onions known to man” effect. The sort of dust that that would just make someone not wearing lenses blink a couple of times can have you struggling to see the road ahead.

Very rarely I wear glasses instead but I am very aware of the lens frames and feel
that glasses restrict my peripheral vision. So. A draft free visor is good at keeping rubbish out of your eyes and is also good at reducing wind noise and protecting your hearing. But it makes visor misting up worse. I tried a few of the solutions you apply to the inside of the visor but found that washing up liquid (the one that’s kind to your hands!) worked as well if not better. All of them wore off after one or two rides so it was a time consuming routine taking off the visor and retreating it every time I went out. They also gave a rainbow effect across the visor as breath settled on them. Not great.

I noticed that GBC’s equally gorgeous sister <> was using a double-glazing type stick on internal sheet in the “Cubbie returns from Wales” blog. I have one still stuck to a visor from one of my long retired helmets.

The idea is quite clever. A layer of air is trapped between the stick on sheet and the visor and they work just like double-glazed windows in that they don’t steam up as much. The seal around the periphery is critical so you have to apply them very carefully to an absolutely spotlessly clean visor. And it is a once only operation so make sure you get the positioning right first time. If that glued down peripheral seal is broken they stop working as well.

These may be your best bet if you wear glasses while riding. However they also suffer from the rainbow effect and the glued edge restricts peripheral vision. In some helmets, they may foul the visor seat rubber seal as the visor is opened and closed. They are not as scratch resistant as the visor itself and must be treated with care to avoid your view being marred by scratches.

Respro Foggy mask

So far the above treat the symptoms (breath landing on the visor) rather than effecting a cure. Stopping breath getting on the visor is in my experience the most effective method and for the last 15 years or so I’ve been using Respro Foggy masks also sometimes called a Breathguard. These are an after-market nose piece that traps breath below them and stops it reaching the visor. The visor stays clear and there are no peripheral vision problems.

I must state that I have no connection with the manufacturer or anything to
gain by singing their praises. But in my view this a good solution to the visor
misting problem and thus a safety aid. It can’t be used on an open face helmet because there’s no chin piece to stick to. I found it difficult to use with glasses but you may have better luck than me if you persevere. Glasses sit on top of the nose piece and bounce up and down I’ve found – which is really distracting.

Fitting the FoggySupplied is one half of a velcro patch that is to be stuck to the chin bar of the helmet. I suggest you rehearse fitting the mask with the velcro patch hooked up to the mask but with the peel off layer still covering the sticky stuff. Try the helmet
on for fit. Then mark exactly where the sticky side of the velcro is to go.

To say that it sticks like glue is an understatement! You must get it in the right place first go because there will be no second attempt. In removing it the glue is ripped apart and will never stick as well again.

Spend a lot of time on the rehearsal before fitting the sticky patch and go look at yourself in the mirror with the helmet on with mask fitted. It should be a comfortable fit and easy to get the helmet on and off. When removing the helmet I find pulling the bridge of the nose piece forwards helps. Also look for gaps between the mask and your cheeks and adjust it so there are no gaps. The sticky velcro patch has loops whereas the three patches of velcro on the mask itself have hooks. These hooks cling really well to the fabric of the helmet’s cheek pads and the position of the sides of the mask can be fine tuned to give the best fit. I try to fit the mask so it follows the contours of the chin bar and cheek pads viewed from underneath so no breath gets past it.

Maintenance consists of removing the mask and putting it in the washing machine when it gets cheesy (!) and buying a new one when it wears out. I’m about half way through my third one now.

Don’t buy anything other than the black one. I had a blue one first with a silver strip of metal that holds the curve over the bridge of the nose. This reflected annoyingly in the visor. I’ve also drawn over the maker’s (originally white) logo with black biro to stop it reflecting in the visor.

While we’re talking helmets, I have a chin cover that slips in between the helmet lining and shell. It’s remarkable how much warmer my chin is in winter with this little device fitted.

Finally – don’t scare people! With the Foggy mask fitted less of your face is visible and shopkeepers and garage staff are more likely to think you’re a customer who’s not intending to pay. I always remove my helmet even at the petrol station. I find without the helmet I’m more aware of my surroundings – useful when pumping explosive fuel.

Thursday, 23 December 2010

Diggy wouldn't want us to sit around being miserable, so I thought I'd better get the Xmas decs up and start acting like the day after tomorrow is Christmas. Thanks to you all for your support, patience and good humour throughout 2010, this blog would be nothing without the input from you. There have been time when there's been very little input from me, and I apologise for that - you know, things to do, nails to paint and so on! My new years resolution is to catch up with myself and keep this place a bit more up to date in 2011. Hope you'll stick around to see if I can keep my promise or not.

Don't panic, it's not mine, it's Bob's from over there, across the sea on the other side of the world. Not BigBob, the OtherBob. Funny old thing this internet. Who would have thought we'd be talking to people in NZ / USA and even Scotland. Thanks for the pics OtherBob. How about a pic of the finished beast to complete the set??

Tuesday, 21 December 2010

Several years ago, when I stumbled across an unloved and rusty Tiger Cub in a barn, I had no idea that my purchase would connect me to a world of classic bike enthusiasts, dotted, quite literally, around the world. I joined what was then, the Classic Bike Forum (nowadays it's morphed into www.classic-motorbikes.net) and as a newbie quickly made some buddies. Diggy was one of those guys, and once we got chatting on MSN, he became interested in my Cub project that I had in the front room....well, over many, many months, late evenings and early mornings - Dig was in New Zealand so the time travel bit was quite tricky, we built a bike. I say 'we', because if it hadn't been for Dig fetching bits of Cub engine from his shed, and then using the webcam to show me how to do various jobs, and emailing pics back and forth with arrows, diagrams and instructions, and giving me encouragement on simple things like which way certain nuts and bolts would undo, then I don't think I would have persevered, or it probably would have taken me three times as long! When you're starting from scratch, as I did, sometimes you just need someone at the other end of MSN, and that's where Diggy remained, right from start to finish. As BigBob said on the forum, RIP - Race in Paradise, Dig.

Wednesday, 15 December 2010

Yippeeeeeee I can post on the blog from my BB, how exciting is that!!! Weeeeeeee. Ok, calm down. I'm on a train to Perth (the Scottish one) and Stonehaven had lots of white fields, and just a little further south all along the banks of the choo choo twack it is all looking VERY WHITE. Keep those silly answers coming in for the pre-Xmas comp... You know you want to...

Tuesday, 14 December 2010

No, I'm not saying beware of the pre-Xmas competition, I'm saying, that there is a competition, now, pre-Xmas, and the aim is to guess what the sign is warning you of. Geddit? This sign is situated at Cubbie Towers, just as you come down the drive, and until a few days ago was under a weeny bit of snow, as you can see. So what do you think it's warning the unwary visitor of? Anyone who has been to the Towers and seen the sign is NOT allowed to enter and if I find out that you are entering and cheating I will chop your fingers off, slowly!

So, send your guesses in to comp AT aultan.com (yeah, change the AT to @!)

There will be a prize for the funniest answer and a prize if anyone gets the correct answer - prizes yet to be decided on! Closing date, whenever, so come on, chop chop, that's all the incentive you need!

Sunday, 12 December 2010

I know, I know, I've been awfully quiet these last few weeks. Well, if I said I'd been sitting around doing my nails would you believe me? Yeah, probably. Thought you'd like a few photos of what the daily chores have involved since the snow arrived...

Load the barrow up and dish the hay out to Horse and the sheep in four different fields...

It's a little tricky getting water to the animals when there are liners made of solid ice inside the water barrels . This one is about 4" thick.

The road out of Cubbie Towers, two days ago, followed by the road home before the Big Thaw...

...when all the roads became flooded instead of snow-bound.

So there y'are, don't forget, get snapping with those cameras before the next lot of snow arrives...all I'm saying is there might be a category for a winter pic with no snow....that's all I'm saying, yer know what I mean?

Thursday, 9 December 2010

I do apologise, I was just trying to see whether or not I could actually post in the post that I started on the BB, but turns out I still can't do that, which is most annoying. I'm not having an awfully good time with the BB, although I do like it, it seems to enjoy winding me up. I installed the software onto my home computer so that I could 'sync my devices' and all that happened was the pooter refused to boot up. It's working now though after I rebooted using the last know something or other settings, but how long it will last is anyones guess.

I was also looking at 'mobile blogging' through the Blogger site, to see if that might be the answer, but all it seems to be directing me to do is to register so that I can then send mobile posts to my 'new' blog. Well, I don't want a new blog thank you very much, I would just like my old one to accept posts from my Blackberry, is that too much to ask?

I'm probably going to go and spoil it all now by connection (using a wire) my BB to my pooter so that I can share some video footage I took the other night on my way home from work and get all the pics off that I keep snapping. Wish me luck....I might be right back with a vid for you, or I might not...

The Really REALLY good news, is that PHIL MATHER has agreed to be the HEAD JUDGE again for the Blog Winter Photo Competition. I've yet to think of a suitable topic, but I'm sure something will pop into my head soon, so make sure you pop back to check on the blog, and take your camera or moby phone with you on all outings from now on, so that you can capture that magic moment that might just fit into the comp category.

Sunday, 5 December 2010

Well, Hobart day was cancelled due to the snow, and that snow is still here. We've had about 18" of the white stuff hanging around for a week and a half now. It didn't stop me from getting to my VMCC Committee meeting in Burton-upon-Trent, but it nearly caught me out coming back. Heading north on the M9 wasn't too bad, but trying to get on the A9 at Dunblane wasn't happening, as the road was coned off due to the snow. A detour through Dunblane village was, erm, interesting and a little 'white', with cars abandoned at the roadside, and some vehicles completely buried. Straight through the village (or is it a town?) and back to the A9, it was easy going for several miles on a single track of the dual carriageway, with no other traffic in sight. Up ahead though, was a queue of red lights, for as far as the eye could see, all the way up the hill and into the distance. Great. The trouble was, even though I was in a 4x4, with two lanes of jammed traffic ahead, and a barrier down the middle of the road, I was going nowhere. Not all was lost though, after about 45mins of waiting and wondering, one of the cars ahead managed to get un-stuck, leaving me free to get to the Dunning junction. Eagle eyed, a snow plough was spotted clearing that particular route a little while before, and a quick check of the map showed that it would take me all the way to Perth. A stop in Dunning led to a chance encounter with a local dog walker (at 7pm on a snow bound winters night? Yep) who suggested heading to Bridge of Earn and getting onto the M90, which would make it easier to bypass Perth and reach the A90. All the roads were covered in slushy, mushy and icy white stuff, but, as they say, were passable with care. North of Aberdeen and the roads were quite bad in places, and just around a bend out of Oldmeldrum what did my wondering eyes see, but a girl racer in her girl racer Clio, on the verge on the wrong side of the road. She'd been run off the road by an idiot taking the bend on the wrong side, but luckily she managed to park in the snow, avoiding being hit and / or ending up in the field. Good job I had a tow rope handy, but unfortunately for her, she had no tow point on her car. But then a couple of nice strong chaps stopped to give a push and we soon had her back on the road. Since then it's been 4x4 travel only, with what passes for the main road still being covered in a layer of ice and snow.

This week has been taken up with clearing snow from all of the shed rooves, feeding hay to the sheep, shovelling snow from one place to another, collecting hay and rescuing more damsels in distress. Actually, what's the male version of a damsel? Cos that's what they were. Boy, it's good to have a 4x4!

So there isn't much else happening I'm afraid. Oh, getting the hang of this Blackberry lark and finding that it isn't a bad wee tool. Had a bit of bother with setting up one of my email accounts because, like most other things in my life, I don't follow the ordinary everyday patterns that most people do, but that's all sorted now. The camera on it is pretty good - see attached pics, all taken on the BB, and after downloading a few Blackberry 'apps' I now have the football and sport updates at my finger tips, and can communicate not only by voice and text, but also by Blackberry Instant Messenger (should I know anyone else with a BB with whom I wish to communicate!) and Windows Live Messenger. My brother tells me there is still much more I can use it for, but I just haven't had time to explore all of the menus and apps yet.

Shorty reports Meigle was a little (no pun) chilly the other night...

...he just had to beat me...

The temp at Cubbie Towers, early evening on 2nd Dec, I'm sure if I'd gone out to the truck and check the temp later on, it would have beaten Moscow and Meigle, but d'you know what, it was too cold to go outside!

...and talking of winter....yep, it's nearly time for the one and only, world famous, not to be forgotten GBC BLOG WINTER PHOTO COMPETITION!!! I just need to come up with a suitable theme. In the meantime, don't forget to take a few photos as you're out and about, just in case they fall into the category for the comp.

This cow doesn't need much feeding - did you hear about the Turra Coo on the news? Well I guess you probably didn't unless you live in Aberdeenshire. I'll tell you about it in a bit, right now, it's time for GBC to get some beauty sleep, wrap up warm!